Thomas Haden Church Gets Screwed in the ‘Don McKay’ Trailer

Despite a boring title, Don McKay could be a neat little tightly-wound thriller. It stars Thomas Haden Church as the title character, an awkward man (apparently a janitor, but he may as well be an ex-con) who returns to his hometown hoping to rekindle a relationship with his dying ex-girlfriend (Elisabeth Shue). He does — but she also might be playing him. The cast includes independent stalwarts like Melissa Leo, Keith David, M. Emmet Walsh, and James Rebhorn. The trailer:

The film played at a number of 2009 film festivals, including Tribeca. The only review up on Rotten Tomatoes so far is a capsule from Variety, which is mixed but offers comparisons to Double Indemnity and applauds the “surprise-packed” finale.

This synopsis (from the official site) is detail-heavy, but for everything it clarifies, it also raises a lot of questions:

Don McKay is a quiet and unassuming high school janitor. Separated from his high school sweetheart, Sonny, for twenty-five years, Don still carries a love for her. When Don receives a letter telling him she is terminally ill, he drops everything and rushes to their hometown to be by her side. Upon arriving, Don and Sonny reconcile and immediately rekindle their romance, mutually agreeing that it would be a symbolic gesture to be married for the short time Sonny has left.

Everything changes, however, when Don – alone in the house – is confronted by Lance Pryce, Sonny’s doctor. Out of nowhere, Dr. Pryce violently attacks, and Don accidentally kills him in their struggle. In a state of confusion and panic, Don hides the body in the woods behind Sonny’s house. To make matters worse, it becomes apparent that Sonny believes the doctor is still alive. She in fact claims to speak with him on a daily basis! Don, knowing that he took this man’s life with his own hands, has no idea what’s going on. Still haunted by a terrible tragedy from his past that forced him to flee his hometown, he is not comfortable going to the police, and it only makes matters worse when it seems that Sonny’s live in nurse, Marie, is on to him. Seemingly alone and trapped in a game of murder and deceit, Don must solve the mysteries that present themselves while clinging to the hope that he isn’t betrayed by the love that he lost so many years ago.

The movie opens April 2nd in New York, L.A., and Boston. Poster:

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2 Comments

Saw this at a critics screening my friend took me too in NYC last week. Hahaha- I can't wait to see the looks on people's faces as the ending credits role on this one. Loved loved loved it- laughed my ass off and was completely confused (in a good way) until the awesome ending where the twist is revealed, and while I knew something was up, could never have guessed in a million years what that twist was going to turn out to be… Really good movie…

Your movie trailer looks to me a great one because it has all those things that a movie should include in there and I will watch this video. All the people should know about these type of movies so they can able to get the inspiration.